Names for the sea

In Iceland in winter the surface of the sea freezes but there are people still swimming in the hot pools. In this book, Sarah Moss, writes about a year in Iceland with her young family. The tone is conversational but the content is so informative: ranging from vulcanology to knitting, from poetry to fruit (or lack of), from the financial crash to historic treasures, from bad driving to the Aurora Borealis; all the ups and downs of life made fascinating.

The title Names for the sea is from W.H. Auden's Letters from Iceland written in 1936 and hints at the isolation felt by Icelanders. Moss also found that they were disenfranchised by distance especially aggravated by the eruption of the volcano and its implications for travel. The most heartfelt moments, though, are the personal stories about being in another country, not understanding the langauage and culture but learning so much about people and places and different ways of doing things. And it's so well written.

Iceland is on my visiting list too!